Key Terms

Key Terms

logrolling the situation in which groups of legislators all agree to vote for a package of otherwise unrelated laws that they individually favor median voter theory theory that politicians will try to match policies to what pleases the median voter preferences pork-barrel spending spending that benefits mainly a single political district rational ignorance the theory that rational people will not vote if the costs of becoming informed and voting are too high or because they know their vote will not be decisive in the election special interest groups groups that are small in number relative to the nation, but well organized and thus exert a disproportionate effect on political outcomes voting cycle the situation in which a majority prefers A over B, B over C, and C over A

Key Concepts and Summary

18.1 Voter Participation and Costs of Elections

The theory of rational ignorance says voters will recognize that their single vote is extremely unlikely to influence the outcome of an election. As a consequence, they will choose to remain uninformed about issues and not vote. This theory helps explain why voter turnout is so low in the United States.

18.2 Special Interest Politics

Special interest politics arises when a relatively small group, called a special interest group, each of whose members has a large interest in a political outcome, devotes considerable time and energy to lobbying for the group’s preferred choice. Meanwhile, the large majority, each of whose members has only a small interest in this issue, pays no attention. We define pork--barrel spending as legislation whose benefits are concentrated on a single district while the costs are spread widely over the country. Logrolling refers to a situation in which two or more legislators agree to vote for each other’s legislation, which can then encourage pork-barrel spending in many districts.

18.3 Flaws in the Democratic System of Government

Majority votes can run into difficulties when more than two choices exist. A voting cycle occurs when, in a situation with at least three choices, choice A is preferred by a majority vote to choice B, choice B is preferred by a majority vote to choice C, and choice C is preferred by a majority vote to choice A. In such a situation, it is impossible to identify what the majority prefers. Another difficulty arises when the vote is so divided that no choice receives a majority. A practical approach to microeconomic policy will need to take a realistic view of the specific strengths and weaknesses of markets as well as government, rather than making the easy but wrong assumption that either the market or government is always beneficial or always harmful.

Self-Check Questions

1 . Based on the theory of rational ignorance, what should we expect to happen to voter turnout as the internet makes information easier to obtain? 2 . What is the cost of voting in an election? 3 . What is the main factor preventing a large community from influencing policy in the same way as a special interest group? 4 . Why might legislators vote to impose a tariff on Egyptian cotton, when consumers in their districts would benefit from its availability? 5 . True or false: Majority rule can fail to produce a single preferred outcome when there are more than two